STUFF YOUR BRAIN SAYS:“The Upside of Irrationality,” Dan Ariely’s follow-up to his 2008 best seller “Predictably Irrational,” hits the hardcover list at No. 12 this week. Ariely, a professor at Duke, is a leading researcher in behavioral economics. One of the field’s concerns is the way we tend to misjudge future pleasure — for example, by imagining that a new Ferrari will make us feel much happier than it actually does. But making The New York Times best-seller list, it turns out, really does feel good. “When my first book reached the list, I called my wife to tell her and I was just not able to talk from excitement,” Ariely said by telephone. “This was very interesting to me because I was very happy to hear the news, but somehow sharing it with someone I love intensified it to an extent that was just too much for me, and I was just able to say a word here and there and almost cry in between.” The differences in our experience of emotions when we are alone versus with others, he added, might be a fruitful avenue for future research.

So — how did I feel this time? About the same as the first time….

Irrationally yours

Dan

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Just finished Predictably Irrational. Quite a good book, but I am still puzzled on the “inviting a less atractive” friend for a party. In my view, you propose a “rational=egoistic” way of getting a date and very likely losing a friend. Why someone would do that? Desperation, maybe? True friendship is much harder to find than a quick date and true friendship is way more rewarding than a flash orgasm. It seemed to me you have “irrationably” fostered irrationality. Other than that, book is quite good. The reflections on the housing buble, trust and bonuses are fantastic.

Dan –
I’m a long-time fan and was happy to make Upside a Staff Pick this week at Powells.com. I loved the book. Great insights and I appreciate your ability to take academic journal articles and translate them into something the rest of us enjoy reading.